Developing countries are facing a heavier cancer burden with a majority of the 12.7 million new cases of cancer in 2008 and 7.6 million cancer deaths worldwide occurring in these parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. A recently adopted resolution of the U.N. General Assembly called for action to address the increasing trends in premature deaths from non-communicable diseases worldwide, with a particular focus on developing countries.

 

Assuming underlying rates of cancer will remain unaltered over the next two decades, GLOBOCAN 2008 projects that by 2030, there will be almost 21.4 million new cases diagnosed annually and that there will be over 13.2 million deaths from cancer.

 

The data is drawn from GLOBOCAN 2008, a new online resource developed by the agency to provide comprehensive data on cancer throughout the world. GLOBOCAN 2008 provides worldwide estimates of the numbers of new cases of, and deaths from, cancer for 2008. Information is provided for the overall burden of cancer and for 27 specific cancer types for almost all countries or territories of the world.

 

The data show that 56 percent of new cancer cases and 63 percent of cancer mortality occurred within developing nations in 2008.

 

Lung cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide with 1.6 million cases or 12.7 percent of the total. It was followed by breast cancer (1.38 million or 10.9 percent) and colorectal cancers (1.23 million or 9.7 percent).

 

Lung cancer also proved to be the number one killer among cancers with a total of 1.4 million deaths or 18.2 percent of all cancer deaths attributed to it. Stomach (.74 million or 9.7 percent) and liver cancers (.69 million or 9.2 percent) also were among the deadliest forms of the disease.

 

“Striking differences in the patterns of cancer from region to region are observed,” says Christopher Wild, director of IARC. “Cervix and liver cancers are much more common in developing regions of the world, whereas prostate and colorectal cancers are more common in developed regions.”

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Country	Rate
Gaza Strip and West Bank	54.86
Syrian Arab Republic	71.85
Namibia	78.30
Sudan	81.55
Botswana	85.68
Niger	86.44
Tanzania	87.23
Saudi Arabia	87.61
United Arab Emirates	88.85
Uzbekistan	89.21
Central African Republic	89.74
Equatorial Guinea	90.52
Congo, Republic of	90.68
Congo, Democratic Republic of	90.75
Cote d Ivoire	90.88
The Gambia	91.31
Yemen	91.83
Gabon	91.88
Cameroon	92.13
Oman	92.39
Solomon Islands	92.93
Samoa	93.13
Chad	94.17
Angola	95.70
Eritrea	95.76
Djibouti	97.98
Tajikistan	98.29
India	98.50
Lesotho	99.37
Liberia	101.19
Comoros	101.49
Togo	101.55
Morocco	101.88
Sierra Leone	102.68
Mauritania	102.99
Swaziland	103.08
Cape Verde	103.13
Senegal	103.14
Benin	103.29
Burkina Faso	103.92
Guinea-Bissau	103.94
Iraq	104.85
Algeria	105.77
Ethiopia	107.15
Afghanistan	107.19
Iran, Islamic Republic of	107.29
Egypt	108.39
Ghana	109.46
Western Sahara	109.79
Mauritius	110.50
Sri Lanka	110.99
Libya	111.27
Guinea	111.59
Nigeria	111.71
Somalia	113.48
Vanuatu	113.85
Pakistan	114.72
Belize	115.02
Philippines	116.09
Qatar	116.85
Kuwait	117.20
Mali	119.99
Bolivia	121.91
Tunisia	121.94
Jordan	123.03
Mozambique	123.51
Burundi	124.52
Bangladesh	124.85
Bhutan	126.57
Rwanda	126.84
Georgia	127.86
Mexico	128.41
Fiji	128.86
Bahrain	129.60
Korea, Democratic Republic of	130.32
Turkmenistan	132.56
Kenya	132.84
Cambodia	133.06
Haiti	133.79
Madagascar	135.02
El Salvador	135.87
Viet Nam	138.67
Papua New Guinea	139.04
Nicaragua	140.18
Zambia	140.82
Nepal	141.61
Malaysia	142.87
Indonesia	143.53
Panama	143.91
Suriname	144.46
Turkey	144.77
Kyrgyzstan	145.21
Lao PDR	146.09
Malawi	148.95
Guyana	150.17
Colombia	150.19
Thailand	150.51
Dominican Republic	151.67
Venezuela	152.64
Myanmar	152.88
Trinidad and Tobago	153.37
Guatemala	154.05
Bahamas	156.45
Peru	157.11
Guam	157.88
Azerbaijan	157.89
Zimbabwe	159.14
Ecuador	161.58
Greece	161.99
Brunei	162.41
Bosnia Herzegovena	166.98
Paraguay	167.67
Lebanon	169.56
French Guyana	170.82
Brazil	171.34
Uganda	171.85
Costa Rica	176.30
Chile	176.74
Cyprus	178.76
Honduras	180.51
China	180.96
Republic of Moldova	186.03
Kazakhstan	186.66
Jamaica	187.83
France, La Reunion	190.24
Ukraine	191.07
Cuba	192.99
Puerto Rico	193.96
Singapore	195.97
France, Guadeloupe	196.86
Russian Federation	200.48
Japan	201.15
South African Republic	201.99
Albania	202.77
Romania	205.11
Argentina	206.25
Montenegro	206.92
Armenia	207.53
Barbados	207.91
Malta	211.35
Belarus	213.11
New Caledonia	218.50
Bulgaria	219.89
Portugal	223.20
Serbia	224.40
FYR Macedonia	225.07
Poland	225.12
Estonia	230.13
Latvia	230.44
France, Martinique	234.85
Spain	241.44
Mongolia	242.23
Chinese Taipei	244.07
Lithuania	244.43
Finland	250.10
Austria	250.58
Sweden	259.70
Slovakia	260.59
Korea, Republic of	262.35
Croatia	262.38
Slovenia	264.80
Switzerland	269.33
United Kingdom	269.38
French Polynesia	269.61
Italy	274.31
Uruguay	280.35
Germany	282.06
Luxembourg	284.02
Hungary	286.60
Israel	288.27
Czech Republic	288.54
The Netherlands	289.87
Iceland	290.43
Canada	296.65
Norway	297.88
United States of America	300.22
France (metropolitan)	300.44
New Zealand	309.21
Belgium	309.43
Australia	314.09
Ireland	317.03
Denmark	321.09